Have you scanned your smartphone today and looked at a tasty recipe or gorgeous food photo? Maybe you spotted a dinner idea shared by a Facebook friend? You’re not alone: 77% of us look food posts in our social feeds weekly, and 39% take a look daily. Food and cooking are inherently social. As long as humans have been gathering together, prepared foods have served as a centerpiece for celebrating and expressing care and creativity with others. Before MySpace and Facebook, the kitchen table served as the original social network.

Today, broad-reaching mobile connectivity and social sharing are taking food sharing to entirely new levels. Go online today, and you’ll be hard pressed to find a social feed or stream without some sort of shared food experience such as recipes, reviews, photos, videos, comments, and posts. The most recent issue of the Allrecipes Measuring Cup Trend Report features highlights from our 2016 Food and Social Survey where we explore the social food experiences gaining the greatest traction among cooks, and the impact these experiences are having on shopping and cooking behaviors.